The Myth of Expository Preaching & the Commodification of the Word

I found this really insightful and helpful. A good piece of cultural analysis applied to the artefact of expository preaching culminating in this summary.

Expository preaching assumes that Christian growth happens individually and cognitively: the believer in the pew hears the sermon, takes notes, and acknowledges an application. (S)he then goes home to apply it in everyday life. Sanctification happens through the cognitive mind digesting a “truth” which then enables the mind to tell the body to do it. And so I fear, that in the large evangelical lecture halls of our day, thousands sit and listen, take notes, and selectively hear what they will hear. The Word has become information to be used for my life as it is.

It is interesting to note that expository preaching really is a child of renaissance humanism and moveable-type motivated personal literacy with its consequent foregrounding of the isolated individual reader and of linear argumentation.

So what's the alternative? We'll have to wait for the next article, but the author trails his coat:

we need preaching done, not as isolated individuals, but in and through the community of the Spirit.

I think I could agree with that. I must admit, though, that we should also be open to the possibility that not only is monological discourse the best educational method [thought sometimes justified], it may not even be biblical in the way that modern exponents think it is. It is certainly possible to read the NT more closely and see note monological discourses but argument, discussion and the like as the more normal; 'speeches' then as now were for special occasions, discussion was the norm.

That's not to say there isn't a place for structured discussions or for giving input. But it is to say that there should normally be room for comeback etc. And that means restructuring the implicit embodied power relations of our buildings and meetings. It is no coincidence that Jesus's only mandatory piece of regular liturgy -the Lord's supper/communion/Eucharist- is originally a round-table event which connotes mutuality and conversation. It is significant that we have often turned it into a hierarchical event which passivises most of the 'participants'. What does expository preaching look like at a meal? More like a bible study with questions, answers, interruptions, disagreements, moments of enlightenment, honest declarations, jokes, challenges and moments when somebody is given the chance to develop a line of thought provided the keep the interest and understanding of the listeners.

It may be that mutuality keeps things honest and relevant; power-over disables engagement and mainly teaches docility or rebellion... but that would be something I need to think over more fully.

Leadership Blog: Out of Ur: The Myth of Expository Preaching & the Commodification of the Word:
Filed in: preaching, Christian, evangelical, expository, myths